CHAPTER FIVE

Elara’s POV

I didn’t stop running until the weight of the palace walls no longer pressed on my chest. My bare feet slapped against cold marble, then stone, and finally dirt as I slipped through the servants’ wing and out toward the back courtyard, hidden in shadow. Only when I was sure no one was chasing me did I allow myself to stop.

My lungs burned and my hands trembled.

Kael had defended me. In front of everyone and in front of her.

Liora.

Even her name left a bitter taste in my mouth. She was everything I was not—noble, powerful, beautiful in a cruel, calculating way and I, in comparison, was nothing, a servant, a wolfless omega and very disposable.

I hugged myself, crouching behind a pillar near the garden wall, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The echo of Kael’s voice still rang in my ears.

“She is mine.”

Those words hadn’t been soft. They hadn’t been gentle.

They had something to it.

I touched my wrist where his fingers had held me, not bruising but firm, like it was protective. I’d felt his heat through my skin, but more than that—I’d felt the raw fury bubbling just beneath the surface.

 Not at me, no….never at me—-At them. At the whole system that had caged me, marked me, and broken me piece by piece.

My stomach twisted with emotions I didn’t want to name. Hope was a dangerous thing. It felt warm in the beginning, like sunlight on skin but it always turned to ash in the end. I'd learned that the hard way.

Still, something inside me stirred.

He had called me by my name like it meant something. Not "girl.” Not "omega." Elara.

I tried to shake the thoughts from my head. I couldn’t afford them. I couldn’t afford to believe this meant anything beyond a moment of impulse from a powerful man who might regret it by dawn.

But why had he looked at me like that? Why had he stepped between me and Liora like a shield? A breeze rolled across the grass, and I realized how cold it was. My thin, revealing servant’s dress clung to my skin, damp with fear and sweat. My fingers were beginning to numb.

I needed to go somewhere. I couldn’t risk returning to the servant quarters—not after the display I’d just been part of. The others would punish me for it. Omegas hated when one of us attracted too much attention. Especially attention from him.

A soft rustle caught my ear. I tensed and pressed back against the stone wall.

“Don’t be afraid,” a familiar voice said.

I turned quickly, ready to run—but stopped when I saw her.

Mira.

She was the only friend I had here. A fellow omega, one who’d survived worse and never let the cruelty in this place break her smile.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” I whispered. “If they see you with me—”

“I saw what happened,” she interrupted, crouching beside me. “The whole hall did. Elara, the Alpha chose you. In front of everyone.”

“No,” I said quickly. “

Mira gave me a look. “You think he would’ve done that for just anyone?”

I didn’t answer.

“He took you into his chambers. Alone,” she continued. “Do you know what that means?”

“I didn’t stay.”

“What?”

“I ran,” I admitted. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t breathe. I was terrified.”

Her face softened. “You did what you had to do but you need to understand something. This changes everything.”

I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t. Not for someone like me.”

“Yes, it does,” Mira said firmly. “You’re no longer invisible, Elara and that means you’re in danger.”

I looked at her, startled. “Danger?”

“Do you think Liora’s going to let this go? You embarrassed her. She is supposed to be the next Luna. Now Kael’s eyes are on you. You think she won’t try to punish you for that?”

I swallowed, dread settling like stone in my stomach. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. All I’d wanted was to get out of that suffocating hall, to escape the stares, the whispers, the malice.

“What should I do?” I asked.

Mira hesitated, then reached into her cloak and handed me something small and folded. A piece of parchment.

“What’s this?”

“A name,” she said. “Someone who can help. If things get worse. If Kael turns cold tomorrow and Liora makes her move.”

I opened it and squinted at the tiny scrawled letters.

Riven. The Old Forest. East of the bloodstones.

I looked up at her. “You trust this person?”

“I trust him with my life,” Mira said. “And maybe one day, you’ll have to as well.”

We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of everything crashing down on us.

“I should go,” I whispered.

Mira nodded. “Stay away from the servant’s wing tonight. Find somewhere else for tonight, I will cover for you.”

I reached out and squeezed her hand, gratitude choking me. “Thank you.”

As she disappeared back into the shadows, I pressed the parchment to my chest and walked toward the stables. There was a small loft above the hay piles no one used anymore. It was cold, but quiet, and hidden.

When I got there, I curled up in the corner, wrapping a horse blanket around myself, and let my thoughts spiral.

Why had Kael reacted the way he did?

Did he know something I didn’t?

Was it… the bond?

No. That was impossible. Bonds didn’t snap into place like that. They took time. They revealed themselves slowly—or so I’d always been told and yet, when he’d touched me… when his voice said my name…It had felt like something ancient rising between us.

I stared out the loft window at the moon rising high over the trees. Something was shifting and I could feel it in my bones and then, just as sleep was starting to take me, I heard the creak of a floorboard below.

My eyes snapped open. I held my breath, heart pounding.

Another creak……..I wasn’t alone. I moved slowly, silently, peering through the cracks in the wood and then I saw her.

Liora.

She stood in the middle of the stables in a cloak, her lips curved in a smile that sent ice through my veins.

“I know you’re here,” she called softly. “You can’t hide forever, little omega.”

She turned slightly, revealing a silver dagger glinting in her hand.

“Run if you want,” she purred. “But I always catch what’s mine to punish.”

Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight, and I knew—I was doomed.